->''It's a family thing, and it won't quit\\They keep it together, y'all, that's it\\They're not ordinary, just strange\\Some say loco, insane in the brain\\But you know that you love 'em\\In a class by themselves, none below, none above 'em\\It ain't nothin' to be ashamed of\\So give love to the folks who go by the name of...''-->-- '''Tag Team''', "Addams Family (Whoomp!)" (from the ''Addams Family Values'' soundtrack)

Meet ''The Addams Family'': father Gomez (Creator/RaulJulia), mother Morticia (Creator/AnjelicaHuston), daughter Wednesday (Creator/ChristinaRicci), son Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), butler Lurch (Carel Struycken), and Granny (Judith Malina; [[TheOtherDarrin Darrined]] by Carol Kane for the sequel). The film series is based on the cartoons created by Creator/CharlesAddams and the [[TheSixties 1960s]] DomCom [[Series/TheAddamsFamily it spawned]]. The first film, released in 1991, focused on the family's search for Gomez's missing brother, Fester (Creator/ChristopherLloyd). Fester's return leads to a joyful reunion between the brothers. However, all is not as it seems and a scheming "mother" (Elizabeth Wilson), a money hungry lawyer (Dan Hedaya), and a plot to steal the family's fortune create complications and HilarityEnsues.

It was successful enough that a sequel, ''Addams Family Values'', was released in 1993, which added a new child (Pubert) and a new love interest for Fester in the form of Debbie Jellinsky (Creator/JoanCusack), the children's new nanny who drives a wedge between Fester and the rest of the family.

A third movie starring the Family, ''Addams Family Reunion'', was released direct-to-video in 1998 with an (almost) all-new cast. Serving as a PilotMovie for the then-upcoming ''The New Addams Family'' series, it is not related to the prior two films.

After plans for a stop-motion adaptation fell through (featuring the involvement of Creator/TimBurton, whose ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' were to have served as inspiration), ''Variety'' reported that [[http://variety.com/2013/film/news/addams-family-reborn-as-animated-movie-at-mgm-exclusive-1200781652/ an animated reboot is finally in the works]], courtesy of [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM.]]----!! Tropes:* AdaptationDistillation: Lovingly matches each character to superb actors in their prime having the time of their lives, adds fantastic scenery and special effects that ride the line between blockbuster spectacle and SoBadItsGood like Seattle Slew, then [[{{Troperiffic}} plays every trope to the hilt]] and [[DoingItForTheArt polishes the entire macabre masterpiece to a mirror shine.]] Then they do it ''again'' with the next movie. Then Gomez suffered [[AuthorExistenceFailure Actor Existence Failure]] when Creator/RaulJulia succumbed to cancer. Even ''Creator/TimCurry'' had trouble filling ''those'' shoes. The best part is that it not only uses the show, but it also uses a number of the darker gags from the original New Yorker cartoons.* {{Adorkable}}: Fester, especially in ''Values'' when he's completely head over heels for Debbie.* AllInTheEyes: Angelica Huston's Morticia is frequently lit with her face in shadow apart from her eyes, seemingly just to look cool.* AllPartOfTheShow:** When Wednesday goes OffTheRails during the Thanksgiving play in ''Addams Family Values'', the audience doesn't get that she's off-script until well after the set is on fire. The fact that they clearly do intend to burn Amanda alive at least gets her parents moving.** Subverted in the first movie. When she and Pugsley start spraying the audience of their school talent show with admittedly fake HighPressureBlood, the audience is immediately freaked out, the first couple of rows even more so. Naturally, the only ones impressed, and probably the only ones they were really performing for, are the Addamses, cheering at the end with a standing ovation like they just saw an Tony-worthy Broadway performance.* AllThereInTheScript: In the first film, Fester called Gomez a "demented freak", which was the password according to the script, in anger for nearly choking him to death.* AlphaBitch: Amanda Buckman.* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: InUniverse. In the first movie, when Morticia is working as a kindergarten teacher she reads ''Hansel & Gretel'' to her class, depicting Hansel and Gretel as cold-blooded killers and the witch as an innocent victim. The kids are not pleased by this DownerEnding -- that, or Morticia asking the kids to imagine what ''being burned alive'' felt like -- and break down in tears.* AncientTradition: The movie treats the Mamushka as one of these, taught to them by Cossack cousins so long ago they no longer remember when. And since Gomez explicitly states that they danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, that means the Addams family has been around for at least nineteen centuries, and has documented enough of their family history to know exactly what they were doing the night of July 19, 0064. ''That's'' how old that traditional dance is.** It also foreshadows why Gordon can dance it so well; [[spoiler:he ''is'' Fester.]]** Since the Cossacks didn't emerge until the 14th century at the earliest -- and since it's the Addams family -- probably a bit of unintentional UnreliableNarrator in there. Or Gomez is just trying to list off situations where the dance is appropriate, without any regard to whether they could have temporally occurred.* AndYourLittleDogToo: In the second movie when Fester escapes from Debbie's mansion with Thing, we have this gem:--> '''Debbie:''' I'll get you! And your little hand too!!* ArcWords: Variations on "I am an Addams!" reflect the [[CentralTheme theme]] of ThickerThanWater that pervades both films.* ArrowsOnFire: Used by the kids dressed as Native Americans when they turn the Thanksgiving play into a rampage in ''Addams Family Values''.* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration:** In the first movie, Morticia compliments the man stretching her on the rack (who is sweating over the evil deed) as "having done this before". She also believes that she and the female antagonist could have been good friends were it not for the current unpleasantness.** Also in the first movie she calls their notorious relatives "psychopaths", "fiends", "mad-dog killers","brutes" and ''pioneers''.** The second film has the following exchanges between Morticia and Debbie:--->'''Morticia:''' You have enslaved him. You have placed Fester under some strange sexual spell. I respect that.* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In ''Values'' when the family comes to Debbie's house to visit Fester:-->'''Morticia''': You have gone too far. You have married Fester. You have destroyed his spirit. You have taken him from us. All that I could forgive. But Debbie?\\'''Debbie''': What?\\'''Morticia''' ''(reproachfully, eyeing the decor)'': Pastels?* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Parodied with the camp counselor's Thanksgiving pageant. Wednesday decides to make it... a little more accurate. (Not only in spirit, but in fact. Pocahontas was a Powhatan, not a Chippewa, and was not present at the first Thanksgiving. The Chippewa are native to the Midwest, and would not have been present either. Also, by the first Thanksgiving, Pocahontas was married to Englishman John Rolfe and living in England. She would not have been betrothed to a member of her tribe.)* AscendedExtra: The girl scout from the first movie (Mercedes [=McNab=]) plays {{A|lphaBitch}}manda in the sequel. [[WildMassGuessing It's entirely possible that they're the same character]].* AssholeVictim: Anybody who comes to genuine harm at the hands of an Addams is generally ''really'' asking for it. They also don't relish harming anybody... well, anybody outside the family.* BadassAdorable: Baby Pubert, in ''Addams Family Values''. See BarehandedBladeBlock and BigDamnHeroes to see why.* BarehandedBladeBlock:** In ''Addams Family Values'', Baby Pubert does this to a guillotine blade one-handed... ''with just his thumb and forefinger''. It must be reiterated that he's a '''baby'''.*** It must also be reiterated that he's an '''''[[CrazyAwesome Addams]]'''''.** Gomez manages to catch a thrown butter knife in his teeth in the same film.** The first film also had the Mamushka, a traditional dance performed by Gomez and Fester that involves them juggling knives between each other. It ends with Gomez hurling every knife directly at his brother, who catches them with his bare hands, the final one in his mouth like a sword swallower.* BecomingTheMask: Played with in the first film, as the mask that the amnesiac Gordon became was that of his actual real identity of Uncle Fester.* BerserkButton: A very subtle one with Pugsley in the second film. Pugsley almost never gets angry, but he clearly takes offense when Amanda refers to the Addams' as circus people. (Keep in mind, she's probably thinking "freak show", he's probably thinking "harmless happy clown".)* BigBad:** ''The Addams Family'': Abigail Craven** ''Addams Family Values'': Debbie Jellinsky* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Baby Pubert in ''Addams Family Values''. He makes his way through the house via a chain reaction of events and manipulates the wires just as Debbie throws the switch, causing her to be incinerated.]]* BitchInSheepsClothing: Abigail Craven/"Dr. Pinder-Schloss" from the first film.** ''Addams Family Values'' gives us Debbie, Uncle Fester's love interest, plus Amanda Buckman and the Camp Chippewah counselors, who are also [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Politically Incorrect Villains]] to boot. * BlackComedy: The entire franchise is built on it. Anything overly gruesome or disturbing, including but not limited to torture machines and implements, arson, murder, man-eating plants, poisons, etc., is beautiful to them.* BlackWidow: Debbie Jellinsky from ''Values'' is one of these. She gets her claws into Fester and marries him, but, Fester being one of the Addams clan, she doesn't quite succeed at the killing part.* BloodyHilarious: In ''Addams Family Values''. Greatest. Thanksgiving. Play. '''Ever.'''** Same for the talent show in the first film.* BookEnds: The beginning and ending of the first movie are both based on one of Charles Addams' original comics in the New Yorker (specifically the opening with the family pouring boiling oil on Christmas carolers and the part at the end where Gomez is amazed to see Morticia knitting a onesie with tentacles, [[{{Foreshadowing}} implying that she is pregnant]]). Doubles as a MythologyGag.* ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily: When Pubert is included in the films series.* BreadEggsMilkSquick: ** First movie:--->'''Morticia:''' ''(straight-faced, taking garment bags out of a wardrobe and looking at tags)'' Uncle Knick-Knack's Winter Wardrobe... Uncle Knick-Knack's Summer Wardrobe... Uncle Knick-Knack...** Gomez giving a toast at the end of the second movie:--->'''Gomez:''' To mirth, to merriment, to manslaughter. * BrickJoke: In the first movie we see the family motto, We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us. In the second movie, the school camp counselors try to subdue Wednesday and Pugsley, and are last seen being roasted on a spit by Wednesday's accomplices.** In ''Values,'' when Debbie finally tells Fester she doesn't love him, she launches into a ReasonYouSuckSpeech and concludes with, "No woman in her right mind would love you!" At the end, [[spoiler:Fester meets his [[DistaffCounterpart perfect match]] in the form of Dementia. "[[LampshadeHanging It means insanity.]]"]]* BrutalHonesty:** In the second film, Wednesday and Pugsley are waiting at the hospital while Morticia gives birth. Another child with them tells an exaggerated DeliveryStork story, so Wednesday responds, complete with dramatic zoom:--->'''Pugsley:''' Our parents are having a baby, too!\\'''Wednesday:''' [[DeadpanSnarker They had sex.]]** Near the end, Fester wonders what he was thinking when he chose Debbie over the family. Wednesday knows:--->'''Wednesday:''' Physical pleasure.* BuriedAlive:** In the first film, the two antagonists land in open graves which Wednesday and Pugsley have somehow prepared in advance. The following exchange occurs:--->'''Pugsley''': Are they dead?\\'''Wednesday''': Does it matter?** The second film opening includes Wednesday and Grandmama burying a cat. When it meows, Wednesday shakes the box and shushes it.* BusCrash: In ''Addams Family Reunion'' it's implied Pugsley ate Pubert.* CalvinBall: "Wake The Dead" seems to be some variety of this.* TheCameo: The Addams relatives in both movies.** The films' composer, Marc Shaiman, plays the uniquely-bearded conductor of the orchestra at Fester's party in the first movie.* CanisLatinicus: The Addams family motto, "Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc!", is translated in the movie as "We gladly feast upon those who would subdue us." However, according to [[http://thecampvs.com/2009/03/28/bad-movie-latin-2/ this site]], the actual translation of the Latin is as follows: “Thus do we growl that (our) big toes have, at this moment, been thrown up from below!” The site offers a more accurate translation for the intended motto: “Laeti vescimur nos subacturis.”* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Debbie doesn't survive ''Addams Family Values''. And it's possible Joel didn't, either.]]* TheChessmaster: Wednesday is this in the second movie, even when sent to Camp Chippewa. Debbie knows she's on to her, so she sends them to the worst place she can think of for kids like them. Only Wednesday gets one up on her, the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain counselors]], and their CrapsaccharineWorld of a summer camp. * ChekhovsGun: In TheMovie, the books in the library, which have [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Exactly What It Says on the Spine]].* ChristmasCarolers: The family is preparing to drop boiling oil on some at start of the first film.* ColdHam: Anjelica Houston as Morticia - she's serene, calm, and the only thing that gets her to alter the pitch of her voice at all is [[HappilyMarried Gomez]]. This does not stop her from being a ''tour de force'' that complements Raul Julia's [[LargeHam significantly more exhuberant performance]] perfectly. Witness in the opening of the sequel, where a simple "''Oui''" from her wrings out enough characterization to show her TooKinkyToTorture, HappilyMarried, and TheStoic all while keeping up with Gomez's frantic attention.* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Debbie's trying to seduce Fester, she talks about always wanting to meet a man who's "untouched, pure" like him. He replies "You'll meet him!"* TheComicallySerious: While Wednesday's lines tend to be funny, a big aspect of the humor comes from her delivery of them with the same deadpan inflection.* ComingOfAgeStory: ''Values'' serves as this for Wednesday.* CondescendingCompassion: The Thanksgiving play from ''Values'' is dripping with this until Wednesday goes off-script. The pilgrims' lines are almost entirely about how they most be good and gracious hosts towards the "savages" with "strange customs", and while noting that said "savages" are civilized, the pilgrims still praises their own civilization as being much better because they have shoes and last names.* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The "Harmony Hut" in the second film. It's a hut filled with posters of kittens, in which Joel & the Addams' kids are forced to sit and watch upbeat Disney movies.** And when they're caught trying to sneak out of the camp, Becky states that they won't be punished - Gary agrees, deciding that they should all sing "Kumbaya" for them instead.* CreatorCameo: In a sense. Director Barry Sonnenfeld makes a cameo appearance in each film: The first sees him as a random passenger in the model train that Gomez later crashes, and the second casts him in a slightly larger role as Joel Glicker's HenpeckedHusband father.* CrazyPrepared: When Debbie gets back to the Addams mansion once her murderous intent is revealed.-->'''Debbie''': I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't enjoy hurting anybody. I don't like guns, or bombs, or electric chairs, but sometimes people just don't listen, and so I have to use persuasion... [[MotiveRant and slides]].* CreepyChild: Wednesday.* DarkIsNotEvil: Questionable. With various people involved pointing out that for all their dark and macabre nature, and seemingly violent acts, the Addamses are in their way the ideal family. The parents are HappilyMarried, deeply in love after all these years with the fire of passion as bright as it ever was; the entire family is deeply devoted to one another's well-being and happiness, they're concerned about their friends (Morticia twice wishes she could befriend their enemies), and they give generously to charity. They're just... ''strange''. However, given the degree to which the movies were DarkerAndEdgier than the original live action series, they are not true examples, taking their macabre trappings to the point where they come off as more AffablyEvil or maybe LawfulEvil, particularly in ''Addams Family Values''. It should be noted that the movies were based on the original cartoons by Charles Addams, including a gag taken directly from the cartoons, with the family pouring a pot of boiling oil on a group of Christmas carollers. They are [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying villains]] after all.* DarkerAndEdgier: The films paint the characters as much more macabre than the TV show (and more in line with the original magazine cartoons), thanks to more relaxed standards on what is acceptable as humor.** A good example is Pugsley's name. Originally, most of the Addams clan didn't have first names, but when the TV show was being produced, they went to Charles Addams to ask for their names. His first choice for the boy's name was 'Pubert', but the TV executives objected. In the long run, of course, the name did get used.** Another is that in the series they didn't kill anyone, but in the movies they kill at least four people (the three villains and the stripper at Fester's bachelor party) and don't seem to care.*** In fairness, everyone at the bachelor party is very visibly distraught about the stripper... just not for very long.* DashingHispanic: Gomez Addams.* DeadpanSnarker: Creator/ChristinaRicci as Wednesday delivers nothing but deadpan snarkery, which only serves to make her all the more hilarious. For example, in the second movie, Pugsley is practicing archery at camp and shoots down a real bird:-->'''Becky Martin-Granger:''' It's an [[{{Eagleland}} American]] bald eagle.\\'''Gary Granger:''' Aren't they extinct?\\'''Wednesday:''' They are now.** For his bit part as the desk sergeant in ''Values'', Nathan Lane drips with this.-->'''Gomez:''' They have moved into a large, expensive house where they make love constantly!-->'''Desk Sergeant:''' I hate when that happens. * DisneyVillainDeath: Unless they did manage to survive [[spoiler:(only to be buried alive), Tully and Craven were caught in a hurricane and thrown at least fifty feet in the air. It's very possible that death came for each just by landing in the coffins.]]-->'''Pugsley:''' Are they dead?\\'''Wednesday:''' Does it matter?* DisproportionateRetribution: Debbie provides a slide show of her life to the Addams before she attempts to electrocute them all. She explains how when she was 9 she wanted a Ballerina Barbie. When her parents gave her a Malibu Barbie instead, [[SelfMadeOrphan she burned down the house with them in it]].-->'''Debbie''': I was a ''ballerina''! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Graceful! Delicate!]] They had to go.* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Wednesday and Pugsley have escalated sibling rivalry to the level of assassination, but the on-screen attempts generally give Wednesday the upper hand. But then, Wednesday is the smarter of the two... though there's a FunnyBackgroundEvent where Pugsley has Wednesday tied to a chair and asks Fester for help picking poisons.* DroppedABridgeOnHim: See WhatHappenedToTheMouse, below.* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Most of the Chippewa campers look straight out of the Hitler Youth. And act it, too. Anything tramping on their myopic idea of what kids their age should be interested in is quickly and coldly goose-stepped on.* DullSurprise: Used deliberately with some of Wednesday's deadpan reactions, specifically because when it goes beyond that to ''actually'' surprised, it's all the more amazing... and ''hilarious''.** And when she breaks out TheUnsmile in ''Values'', it's absolutely ''horrifying''.*** Even the girls at camp know something's wrong.* EldritchLocation: There is definitely something supernatural about the Addams' mansion. The house itself seems to be a living creature, and the front gate has a real taste for visitors.* EnfantTerrible: Wednesday Addams.* EvenEvilHasStandards: If there's one moral tenet the Addamses do live by, it is this: [[FamilyValuesVillain you don't mess with someone's family]].** Also Tully's discomfort and disgust with torture.* EvilVersusEvil: The movies would become a lot more awkward if anyone (including the villains) seriously protested the Addams' pastimes.* FaceFramedInShadow: In the films, Morticia's face is constantly shadowed, no matter the ambient lighting, with the only bright spot being around her eyes. It especially stands out when she's with other cast members, who are normally lit.* FauxHorrific:** From ''Values'', after Pubert becomes blonde and rosy cheeked. Grandmama is explaining that this change can become permanent. Of course, this IS the Addams we're talking about, so it's a subversion.--->'''Grandmama''': We're talking dimples!\\'''Gomez''': NOT in this house!*** Also, he could become [[EvilLawyerJoke a lawyer]], an orthodontist, or even... ''President''.** Also, Wednesday's contribution to the horror story at camp.--->'''Wednesday''': And so, the next night, the ghost returned to the haunted cabin, and he said to the campers -- "None of you ''really'' believe in me, so I'll have to prove my power." And the next morning, when the campers woke up... all of their old noses had grown back. ''*Cue screams and a smirking Wednesday*''*** Amanda is particularly horrified.** Debbie's parents bought her... ''the wrong Barbie''.* TheFilmOfTheSeries: ''The Addams Family'' and ''Addams Family Values''.* {{Flanderization}}: Before Fester gets his memory back at the end of the first film, he's a street-smart tough guy. But in ''Values'' he's regressed into a childlike oddball with NoSocialSkills. Although the thing is his personality in the second film is probably closer to the original character from the TV series and comic strip, at the beginning of the first film he doesn't know he's Fester and is effectively a different person, as he spends more time with the family he gradually starts to feel more like an Addams. And lets face it even as an amnesiac he was a PsychopathicManchild just more conniving thanks to Craven's influence. But if you compare the two films it is slightly odd how much he regresses in the sequel.* FlatWhat: Christopher Lloyd gets two good ones in as Fester in the first film. The first occurs when he and Gomez are watching their old home movies[[note]]Fester is trying desperately to not have his cover blown, so he points out Flora and Fauna Amor -- whose picture he'd seen in his room -- to which Gomez responds by asking for his forgiveness[[/note]], and the second happens while Fester is talking with Abigail Craven about how the whole family suspects him [[note]]Abigail informs Fester she can fix this through her "Dr. Pinder-Schloss" guise[[/note]].* FluffyFashionFeathers: Debbie greets the Addams in one scene wearing a nightgown trimmed with white feathers.* AFoolForAClient: He even calls the trope by name in the first movie:-->'''Gomez''': They say the man who represents himself has a fool for a client. Well, as God is my witness, '''[[LargeHam I am that fool]]'''!* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: Wednesday does this in the first movie. When asked where her costume is, she replies;--> "This is my costume. I'm a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else."* {{Foreshadowing}}: ''Values'' begins with Fester howling at the moon, showing us that he's lonely (in a romantic sense).* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In ''Values'', when Wednesday and Joel have their "love at first sight" moment, Pugsley is trying to hang himself in the background to get out of staying at the camp. Doubles as pretty literal GallowsHumor.** In the first movie, Tully's wife, at the auction, looks disheveled since she couldn't get the finger trap off.** At the motel, they removed the "No Lifeguard on Duty" and "Pool Closed" signs. (They're on the back wall of their room.)* GeekyTurnOn: Well, homicidal one, as Wednesday scooched closer to Joel after a revelation [[SicklyNeuroticGeek regarding his allergies]].-->'''Joel''': You know what happens if my mom uses fabric softener?\\'''Wednesday''': What?\\'''Joel''': I ''die''.* GeniusLoci: As pointed out above in the "eldritch location" trope.* GenreBlind: Debbie in spades. After failing to kill Fester through electrocution, she wraps up a bomb as a "present"... and he actually ''guesses what it is'' before brushing it off with "I know. Wait for my birthday!"** On top of that, she legitimately doesn't realize that the Addams clan would ''gleefully'' accept her as a member of the family so long as she didn't keep them from seeing Fester.* GenuineImposter: [[spoiler:The "false" Fester Addams is the real Fester with a case of amnesia.]]* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In-Universe example. In ''Family Values'', during the Thanksgiving play, Pugsley is dressed up as a turkey for a musical number. His lines in the song consist of saying "Eat Me" twice. Amanda's parents, who are in the front row, react slightly.** ''Family Values'' in general is rather direct about sex, such as Wednesday bluntly telling a young girl who believes in the DeliveryStork where babies ''really'' come from, the fact that Fester watches Gomez and Morticia having sex through keyholes, and offering Thing as a way to [[ADateWithRosiePalms stave off loneliness]]. Not to mention the CenterfoldGag of ''[[IncestIsRelative their mother]]''.** The first film has a scene at the beginning of a cuckoo clock - a scale model of the Addams mansion with moving mannequins of the family. The mannequin of Gomez is apparently kissing the mannequin of Morticia on her breasts.* {{Goth}}: Of course!* HamToHamCombat: The first two films star Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd. The unsuspecting first-time viewer will be picking chunks of pork out of their ears for ''weeks''.* HeldGaze: How Wednesday meets her love interest in ''Addams Family Values.'' * HelpingHands: "Why, thank you, Thing."* HeroicBSOD: Gomez ends up in one in the first movie after losing the family home and fortune, and apparently being betrayed by Fester/Gordon. Thing manages to snap him out of it with a three word message: [[spoiler: MORTICIA IN DANGER]].** He gets one in the second movie (complete with "Take me! Take me!") when informed that his possessed baby [[spoiler: might one day grow up to be president]].* HighPressureBlood: Parodied during the play with Wednesday and Pugsley; when they fight each other as part of the play, blood sprays out whenever they make a cut, covering the audience in it.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Debbie in ''Addams Family Values'']].* HollywoodLaw: No competent court system would have allowed a Judge who was the next-door neighbor of the Addams with an obvious history of animosity towards them to preside in a lawsuit involving them. Of course, Gomez Addams, a lawyer who takes crazy pride in ''losing'' his cases, would probably be too dumb to realize that this is a different situation and protest this legal fact.* HumiliationConga: The Thanksgiving play in the second film becomes this, and doubles as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Wednesday.* IdentityAmnesia: Fester, in the first movie.* ImmodestOrgasm: Both Gomez and Morticia during the charity auction. * InexplicablyAwesome: Baby Pubert.** Well, he IS an Addams... that explains most things.* InjuryBookend: In the first movie, Uncle Fester's amnesia he got from the Bermuda Triangle cured by a lightning storm from one of the enchanted books in their library.* JewishAndNerdy: Joel Glicker (David Krumholtz) in ''Addams Family Values''.-->'''Wednesday''': What are you in for?\\'''Joel''': I wouldn't go horseback riding.\\'''Wednesday''': That's all?\\'''Joel''': And I wouldn't make a birdhouse.\\'''Wednesday''': Why not?\\'''Joel''': I just wanted to read.\\'''Gary''': (''Popping his head back in to swipe Joel's copy of'' [[Creator/StephenHawking A Brief History Of Time]] and laugh in true [[EvilLaugh villain fashion]]) Not on my time, four-eyes!* JewishMother: Joel's mother in ''Values'', and how.-->'''Joel's Mother''': ''[watching him as Running Bear in the Thanksgiving play]'' [[JewishComplaining 20 grand for summer camp and he's Mister Woo-Woo?]]* JumpingOutOfACake: Gruesome example from the second film. Gomez tries to have this done at Fester's bachelor party, but the stripper missed her cue to jump out twice.-->'''Gomez''': ''[peers into cake]'' ...That poor girl. Lurch, was she in there ''before'' you baked?\\'''Lurch''': ''[growls contritely]''\\''[Awkward murmuring from the party-goers]''\\'''Gomez''': [[CrossesTheLineTwice C'est la vie!]] ''[everyone laughs]''* JustForPun: About half the times that anyone talks to Thing, they make some sort of hand-related pun.* JumpScare: Thing bursting out of Debbie's grave and grabbing Joel's arm at the end of the second could count as one.* KickTheDog: The judge from earlier in the movie ruling in favor of Gordon/Fester as owner of the Addams property "with no small amount of personal satisfaction", except for one exception -- Gomez's bucket of golf balls, which he dumps out in front of him while cackling madly.* KillerRabbit: Wednesday.* KnifeOutline: ''Addams Family Values'' has Gomez literally throwing Fester against a wall and outlining him with knives after they reminisce about their childhood SiblingRivalry.* KnittingPregnancyAnnouncement: Gomez realizes in the last scene that Morticia is knitting a baby's jumper. With three legs. * LargeHam: ''Raul "[[Film/StreetFighter OF COURSE!]]" Julia.''--> '''Gomez''': I believe they own -- \\'''Morticia''': Gomez, no -- !\\'''Gomez''': -- A '''''BUICK!!!!'''''"** Wednesday in the school play:--->"Sweet oblivion, ''open your arms!'' *retch, retch, collapse*** Joan Cusack as Debbie Jellinsky, during her more AxCrazy moments.** Creator/ChristopherLloyd as Fester. Any scene with him and Gomez is HamToHamCombat at its finest.* LetsMeetTheMeat: During the awful Thanksgiving play, the kids actually have a song where the edible items sing, dance, and invite the audience to eat them. Later, Pugsley is a turkey brought by the Native Americans to the Pilgrims.--> Pugsley: "I am a turkey. Kill me!"* LicensedPinballTable: Released by Creator/WilliamsElectronics under the Bally label, it featured custom voice work by Creator/RaulJulia and Creator/AnjelicaHuston, and eventually became the best-selling pinball machine of all time. [[Pinball/TheAddamsFamily Click here for more.]]* LightIsNotGood: The most flagrant example being the camp counselors from ''Values'', Gary and Becky. Not for the way they treat Wednesday and Pugsley (that is, until they force them to watch saccharine movies and they return - apparently - converted to their upbeat philosophy), but the way they heavily favor the rich, white, blonde kids over the minority campers, even casting the latter group as the "savage" Native Americans in Gary's play. Becky can't even pronounce two of their names, Consuela and Jamal.** In introducing the play, Gary refers to the two factions as white meat and dark meat.* LightningCanDoAnything: Fester's always had odd reactions to being electrocuted, but in the first film it cures his amnesia... and for months afterward, Pugsley keeps begging to see the trick his uncle can do by sticking a light bulb in his mouth.* LiteralMinded: In the first film, at the elementary school talent show, Margaret Alford looks upon her son, dressed as an elf, and remarks that "I could just EAT you alive!" [[PragmaticVillainy Morticia is appalled:]]-->'''Morticia''': Oh, no, Margaret! Too young!** Also in ''Values'', when Debbie Jillinsky first meets Gomez:--->'''Debbie''': My, he's a real ladykiller!\\'''Gomez''': Acquitted!* LookMaNoPlane: In the climax of ''Addams Family Values'', the baby somehow gets catapulted high enough to come eye-to-eye with a commuter plane...specifically, the one that's currently flying the AlphaBitch and her family home from the disaster that was summer camp.* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Gordon, [[spoiler: before his amnesia is cured and he realises he is in fact Fester after all]], decides to side with the Addams family and betray his mother after she belittles him one time too many. [[spoiler: He stops Gomez picking the book from the bookshelf that opens the vault, and instead picks one that creates a violent storm in the room to incapacitate his mother and the lawyer - by accident this also gives him his true memories back.]]* MotiveRant: Parodied with Debbie, who prepares a ''slide show'' for hers. Also because her audience is the Addams they respond with compassion and understanding as she explains murdering her parents for getting her the wrong Barbie.* MundaneMadeAwesome: Quite a bit of "normal" things get a unique twist, but Gomez's train set takes the cake.* MurderByCremation: For his brother's wedding Gomez orders a huge cake with a stripper inside. However, when the cake is delivered, it turns out that the unwitting butler put the girl inside before he put it into the oven. * NighInvulnerability: Fester is immune to fatal amounts of electricity and mansion-destroying explosions. He does seem worried by bullets, which makes it even weirder that Debbie would decide on the electric chair to finish him off when that method didn't succeed the first time.** Seems to apply to all the family to some degree. Pugsley and Wednesday spend much of the first movie playing fatal games with each other, involving poison, knives, even electric chairs. Wednesday even explicitly says the latter is supposed to kill Pugsley, and that this particular game is called "Is There a God?"** Morticia, going through Fester's luggage in the first movie, notes that he brought cyanide and teasingly chides him "As if we'd run out." The delivery insinuates they use it as a ''condiment''.* NobodyCallsMeChicken: In ''Values'', Amanda goads Wednesday into adding to the ghost story by insinuating she's not up to it. Wednesday's creative spin makes them wish they hadn't.* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler: Debbie is electrocuted to ashes in ''Addams Family Values''. All is left are her shoes and credit cards.]]** [[spoiler: Then whose hand is it that rises from her grave to grab Joel's ankle at the end of the film? Probably Thing.]]* ObviouslyEvil: Debbie's successful crime spree tugs at WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief when she gets to Fester. She couldn't look more guilty if she tried. Putting aside that the Addams see this as normal, the authorities would have noticed such oddities as ordering a hearse prior to the victim's death. Wednesday even lampshades this towards the end. Not to mention this noticeable line.-->"Just a single, I will be a widow then."* OedipusComplex: In ''Values'', Gomez pulls out a magazine from Fester's bed, opens to one of the centerfolds, and the two fondly say "Mom!".* OverlyLongGag: In the first film, Gomez begins to suspect that "Fester" is not his real brother ([[spoiler:He is, but he has amnesia and thinks that he's only pretending to be]]). He begins to rant for several minutes, listing various synonyms for a fraud. Cut to "Fester" bonding with Wednesday and Pugsley for several minutes. Cut back to Gomez still ranting, who is finally snapped out of it by Fester's caretaker.* PerkyGoth: Gomez, depending on your definition of "goth". Margaret Alford is a sort-of subversion. After leaving her husband for Cousin Itt she becomes noticeably perkier and is rather grateful to join the Addams clan. She doesn't change her wardrobe and is usually seen wearing bright colors like pink, yet the Addams don't mind. She does, however, carry around her new baby in a coffin-shaped carriage, dresses in typical Addams attire (that is, for a funeral) to Fester's wedding, and hires a nanny named "Dementia" who looks like a female version of Fester.* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The camp counselors in the sequel not so subtly favor the children of wealthy {{W|hiteAngloSaxonProtestant}}ASPs over the minority campers (and Wednesday & Pugsley).-->'''Becky''': But, of course, not everyone can be a star. Let's not forget our cheery little Chippewas: Mordecai, Yang, Esther, um... Consuela, Irwin, and, um... [[TheUnpronounceable I'm still not sure just how to pronounce this]]. (''Black camper rolls his eyes [[{{Corpsing}} while barely suppressing a smirk]]'') [[SubvertedTrope Jam-il? Jame-al]]?\\'''Gary''': Jamal?\\'''Becky''': Whatever.** The Thanksgiving play written by Gary, is filled with blatant racism, with Native Americans constantly being called [[InsistentTerminology savages]] and primitive and praising the lead Pilgrim girl for have "skin as white as milk".** Gleefully subverted by Wednesday during the Thanksgiving play to the applause of a grateful nation. She basically leads the minority campers (being forced to play racist Native American stereotypes) in a full-scale assault on the rich white kids, as both symbolic revenge for the real Native Americans, and literal revenge on the kids and counselors who had been dicks to them the entire time.* PortalBook: The books in the Addams' library are an inversion: people can't go in (as far as we know), but the stories in the book manifest in the real world when opened (e.g. ''Literature/TheSunAlsoRises'' creates sunlight).* PretentiousLatinMotto: "Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc", supposedly meaning "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us"... though it's really a case of DogLatin, as a better version would be ''"Qui nos opprimere velint, illos libenter devoramus"'', which translated more literally is: "Who would subdue us, them we gladly devour." (The order is unusual in English, but it is natural in Latin.)* PrettyInMink: In ''Values'' Gomez and Mortica are at a fancy restaurant where several ladies in the background are wearing fur wraps.* PrimaDonnaDirector: The male camp counselor is a bit over passionate about their Thanksgiving play, striking and dismissing campers during rehearsal. When Wednesday begins breaking from script, he's ready to wring her neck (he proves to be out of his league there however).* RailEnthusiast: [[StuffBlowingUp Gomez.]]* RealityIsUnrealistic: About the only thing that you can't actually do in the Mamushka from the first film is the thrown sword-swallow. Everything else is actually something you can do if you can juggle.* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Both played with and averted in ''Family Values''. Fester treated his AxCrazy wife with nothing but love and respect, but she's so insane she simply keeps going with her plan to kill him, not realizing she actually has someone who cares. Fester is perfectly willing to die for whatever perceived crimes he's committed. Then, when she actually dies, she's just... [[NoBodyLeftBehind a pile of dust]]. No redemption there.** Of course she wanted love...and jewelry...which Fester would have gladly provided.* RichBitch: Debbie and Amanda in the sequel.* {{Room 101}}: Played for laughs in the second movie. The camp counselors send Joel, Wednesday, and Pugsley to an isolated cabin apparently used for just this purpose. They're made to endure horrors like ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Film/{{Annie|1982}}'', and various Disney movies. * RubeGoldbergDevice: Pubert's trip through the house to save his family in the second movie is an unintentional one (i.e. not set up beforehand, just a lot of random occurrences that fit together in a Goldbergian manner).* SarcasmMode: You could think that the entire Addams Family had gone into this hardcore when they're seeming to humor the ranting Debbie. Actually, considering their previous behavior, they're probably ''sincerely empathizing with her''.-->'''Grandmama''': An axe! Ooh, that takes me back.* ScreamingBirth: Averted during Pubert's birth in ''Addams Family Values''; all Morticia emits are a few barely audible grunts. Totally justified, however, when you consider their [[TooKinkyToTorture sex life]].** Seriously, who didn't burst out laughing at Morticia's first line in that movie?--->'''Morticia:''' Marvelous news. I'm going to have a baby. ''({{Beat}})'' Right now. ''(Cut to Morticia being rushed through the hospital.)''** Then there's the bit during labor when Gomez asks Morticia if she's in unbearable, inhuman pain. She smiles coyly and says "''Oui''", bringing on Gomez's usual kissing response. The doctor has to remind them that there's a baby to deliver.* ShoutOut: ** Among others, there's the fact that ''every'' close-up of Morticia has the same lighting as Bela Lugosi's take on Dracula, with a horizontal line of light across the eyes.** Baby Pubert wears a [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] hockey mask. * SilentSnarker: Lurch; the guy's slightest facial movement speaks ''volumes.''* SinisterTangoMusic: ''Addams Family Values'' has Gomez and Morticia doing a tango that is equal parts sinister and sexy. * SlasherSmile: Wednesday gives the audience a rather disturbing one in ''Addams Family Values''.** Even the campers are scared of it, though it doesn't faze Becky or Gary, speaking to just how disturbed they probably are, too. [[spoiler:Of course, it's all part of Wednesday's plan to show them just what Hell actually looks like.]]* SomethingElseAlsoRises: A pretty hilarious version occurs in the movie. Gomez and Morticia are sitting in the graveyard and, as per usual, things get romantic between them. Cut to shots of the various, elaborate gravestones of deceased Addamses that manage to become this trope.** And in ''Family Values'', the tango scene culminates in the floor catching fire beneath Morticia's feet and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything every champagne bottle in the room popping its cork off and gushing.]]* SpoiledBrat: Most of the kids at Camp Chippewa in ''Addams Family Values''.* SpotlightStealingSquad: Fester and Wednesday in the movies. Poor Pugsley barely features in the second one.* StepfordSmiler: {{Enforced}} at Camp Chippewa - even if you're not actually perky, you'd damn well better act like you are or suffer a CoolAndUnusualPunishment.--> '''Becky''': [[MakeAnExampleOfThem We are going to make]] an [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ex-am-ple]]. We are going to show that ''anyone'', no matter how odd, or pale, or chubby, can still have a darn good time. [[Room101 Whether they like it or not]].* StrongFamilyResemblance: Pubert, in ''Addams Family Values'', has a ''mustache''.** Also parodied:--->'''Gomez''': He has my father's eyes.\\'''Morticia''': Gomez, take those out of his mouth.* SugaryMalice: The Camp Chippewa counselors. They treat the kids like they are all five years old, and the real scary thing is only the outcasts (read: those who aren't JerkJock or AlphaBitch material) seem to think something is amiss.* SuppressedMammaries: Christina Ricci had her breasts tied down when she played Wednesday in the movies. Puberty did not miss her. In what was almost assuredly a reference to this fact, her first scene in ''Film/NowAndThen'' has her duct taping her breasts down after complaining about them getting bigger.* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: From ''Values'': "I can show you all my references so you know I'm not a homicidal maniac."* TakeThat: From ''Values'' The camp counselors send Joel, Wednesday, and Pugsley to a cabin to watch happy children's films as a punishment (one that the Addams Children won't enjoy) and we are given this gem.-->'''Wednesday''': Don't worry. We're getting out of here.\\'''Joel''': But... it's Disney.[[note]]Ironically, ''none'' of the films the audience hears are Disney.[[/note]]* TastesLikeDiabetes: InvokedTrope.** The summer camp in ''Addams Family Values'', which of course makes it a living hell for Wednesday and Pugsley.** A little girl explaining how her mommy got a baby, invoking every trite and saccharine "where babies come from" myth of the past few centuries. And it leads to Wednesday's [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Crowning Moment of]] {{Deadpan Snarker}}y. --->'''Young Girl:''' And then Mommy kissed Daddy, and the angel told the stork, and the stork flew down from heaven, and left a diamond under a leaf in the cabbage patch, and the diamond turned into a baby!\\'''Pugsley:''' Our parents are having a baby, too.\\'''Wednesday:''' ''(dramatic zoom)'' They had sex.* TemptingFate: In ''Values'' Joel has the horrible idea to tell Wednesday she wouldn't scare her (theoretical) future husband to death. Guess what happens a few moments later?* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Inverted in the second movie; it's not the nanny interviewees who are terrible, it's the children. And while the one who gets the job ''seems'' perfect, she's really the worst.* ThatPoorCat: At the start of ''Values'', the kids and Grandma are burying the family cat in a shoebox. Wednesday has to shush it so that its cries do not ruin the solemnity of the occasion.* ThemeTuneCameo: In the waltz scene from ''Addams Family''; the scene where Wednesday pulls a match from her headband and lights it in ''Addams Family Values'', as well as the tango scene.* ThemeTuneRap: Each has its own: The first film had "Addams Groove" by MCHammer (complete with a nigh-[[IndecipherableLyrics Indecipherable Chorus]]), and ''Values'' featured "Addams Family (Whoomp!)" by Tag Team (an ''Addams''-themed remake of "Whoomp! (There It Is)"; later "won" a [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzie Award]] for Worst Original Song).* [[TwoLinesNoWaiting Three Lines, No Waiting]]: ''Addams Family Values'' focused mainly on three separate plots: the Black Widow trying to kill off Uncle Fester, Gomez & Morticia looking after newborn Pubert, and Pugsley & Wednesday trying to cope with summer camp.* TranquilFury: Morticia while showing Fester the family graveyard and the family creed. She's suspicious of him as well and rather threateningly but eerily calmly states the family creed 'We would devour those who'd subdue us' and that 'As an Addams, you understand what that means, right?'** And then again when she sees how miserable her family is after getting kicked out of the house, and then walking off in the middle of the night to confront Fester* TooKinkyToTorture: Morticia, demonstrated when Tully tries to stretch her on the rack:-->'''Morticia''': You've done this before.** Applies to the entire Addams clan, naturally - much to [[BlackWidow Debbie's]] chagrin.* TheUnintelligible: Lurch and Itt. Lampshaded when they have a conversation. Others seem to understand him too. Tully either can understand him asking to cut in or is ''very'' good at inferring his meaning, and Margaret almost immediately understands him well enough to not only be charmed by him while first dancing together, but to have a long, emotional discussion with him.* TheUnsmile: Wednesday in the second movie. One of the most horrific examples of this trope ever, primarily due to [[TheStoic the source of it]], rather than the quality of the smile.-->'''Amanda''': She's scaring me!** She gets a genuine one later on, though the context is that of a PsychoticSmirk.* VerbThis: In ''Values'', when Debbie shows the family slideshows about her second husband, a senator who loved his state and his country, she quotes his words:-->'''Debbie''': ''[imitates her second husband]'' "Sorry, Debbie, no Mercedes this year. We have to set an example." Oh yeah? Set this!\\''[next slide shows the car driving toward the senator in panic]''* VillainousBreakdown: Debbie's failed attempts to murder Fester has put her over the edge.* VillainProtagonist: In the movies, unlike the series the Addams are (naively) evil and happy about it, not that this makes them any less pleasant and lovable. Morticia even says at one point she wishes she had time to find the Forces of Darkness and join them in their Infernal Crusade.* TheVoiceless: In this version, Lurch never talks, only growls and grunts. For the record, the character was intended to be mute in the show as well, but Ted Cassidy ad-libbed the classic "You rang?" line and it was too funny to not capitalize.* WallpaperCamouflage: Wednesday in the second movie. Just check the picture on the trope page.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the movie, Tully and Margaret Alford's son, who appears in one scene (and in the credits as "Tully Jr.") but despite the fact that his mother [[spoiler:runs off with Cousin Itt]] and that his father [[spoiler:is buried, [[BuriedAlive possibly alive]], in the Addams' graveyard]], he's never spoken of again, not even in the {{sequel}} ''Addams Family Values''.** Also in ''Family Values'', it's mentioned that the "Black Widow" has killed at least three husbands, but we only ever learn the fates of two of them.*** One of Debbie's previous identities (as shown by the headshots kept on her wall) is ''Kathie Lee Gifford'' -- so perhaps Monday Night Football has a different announcer in the Addams Family universe...* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: In ''Addams Family Values'' Gomez and Fester are cheerfully reminiscing about all the (violent) pranks they pulled on each other as kids. Fester casually mentions that one time he waited til Gomez was asleep, then opened his head and removed his brains. Gomez is so surprised and impressed by this revelation that he proceeds to throw Fester on the wall upside down and outline him with daggers.* WhyWontYouDie: Debbie's attempts at killing Fester continuously fail, and she eventually demands to know why he won't die. This comes as a shock to Fester, who assumed all that poison and electrocution was intended flirtatiously.* WilliamTelling: Wednesday is shooting an arrow at Pugsley, but the apple is in his mouth instead of on top of his head.* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Parodied with Debbie. C'mon, people, [[FauxHorrific Malibu Barbie]]!----